Action Comics: Brainiac - Part 4

[history79]

8 pages of 24

Comments

[scorntx]

Uh, Clark, you're letting your inner Kryptonian show calling ol' Brainiac an "alien" with that kind of emphasis...

After all, you're married to an alien. And you work with aliens.
Oh, and didn't you spend a good deal of time in your youth with the Legion of Superheroes, all of whom are from different planets, none of which are Krypton or Earth?

[sadoeuphemist]

"inner Kryptonian"? Wow, way to be racist, you human.

[scorntx]

Wouldn't it'd be speciest actually.
Or is it specist? Xenoist?
I 'unno.

Anyhow, Kryptonians do all tend to be pretty xenoist and anti-alien.

It just seems so against everything about Clark to suddenly say "alien" like he did, the only explanation is that somehow being a xenoistic berk actually is an inherent trait of all Kryptonians.

[cyberghostface]

The original cover had them sharing a beer but the published cover changed it to a soda pop. Apparently two adults sharing a beer is problematic now.

[sadoeuphemist]

Doesn't Superman not drink? I know Spider-Man doesn't, to the point where he at one point had half a glass of non-alcoholic champagne and went 'Woah, I'm totally wasted!' and it was really embarrassing for everyone involved.

[scorntx]

Well, most versions of Superman just can't get drunk at all.
He can drink all he likes, and it wouldn't do anything, though knowing him he probably just doesn't anyway.
Mama Kent would probably frown on such things.

[bruinsfan]

Back in the Byrne era they said that his metabolism was roughly 4x as efficient as a normal human's, so in theory he would have the same roadblocks to getting drunk as Captain America in the movies. Maybe not impossible, but people would be raising an eyebrow at Clark chugging Everclear while everyone else is drinking Bud Light.

[wizardru]

I remember this being something a lot of folks wrung their hands over, but I think the idea was that they didn't want kids reading a comic where Superman was having a beer on the cover as mostly a PR move. I mean, I wanted to be annoyed, but honestly I thought it was a non-issue then and I still do. It's not a hill that I think they needed to die upon, especially in this age of 24-hour news cycles just waiting for something to be outraged over. It's the same way that we don't see Clark doing lots of normal things for an adult, since that's not the image they're going for: kissing and hugging Lois? Perhaps. Waking up on Sunday morning in bed on the cover? Probably less likely. Was it perhaps a trifle gutless? I guess so. But when you're dealing with the world's most famous superhero in what is generally meant to have a broad appeal, I can see why they'd err on the side of caution.

It's still a pretty good cover, IMHO.

[lyricalswagger]

It bugs me how for decades, DC has had no idea what Pa Kent is supposed to look like, and every artist just makes up his appearance.

[bruinsfan]

It's not as if this particular artist draws a Clark/Superman that I find all that recognizable either...

[lyricalswagger]

You're supposed to think "oh boy, it's Christopher Reeve!"

But to be honest, "my" Superman is probably Curt Swan's.

[bruinsfan]

Even after all these years, I think Wally Wood's is mine.


Though Swan's, Neal Adams', Perez's, Byrne's, and Immonen's all work for me too.